Thursday, September 29, 2011

Today, James had an appt at the Vision Enhancement Clinic in Springfield, MO. I'll give you a little background info. Since he came to live with us almost 2 years ago, he's been very behind in reading. By the end of second grade, we felt he was almost caught up. He struggled through third grade and was even on the honor roll one semester! We were so proud of him, but we felt like he still shouldn't be reading like he should. So, when he started 4th grade this year, it was apparent that his reading level was way below where it should be. After a rough 5 week progress report, we knew it was time to do something. I spoke to his teacher whom we love {Mrs. M} and told her all of the trouble we've been having at home with his homework. We generally work on homework 3-4 hours per night. James has trouble with getting his numbers transposed and he also guesses words a lot by looking at the first few letters. He complains of headaches and his eyes getting blurry. I told Mrs. M all of his symptoms and she consulted the school counselor and referred us to the vision clinic.

Let me just tell you, I think our prayers have been answered in a way. Through all of the testing, the clinic found that James has severe focusing problems. He can see just fine far away and up close, but it's the in between that he has trouble with. The Dr. also said that his eyes do not move in sync like they should, but independently. He had to read a paragraph while a computer program monitored his eye movements. Most of the parameters were 2-3 times greater than they should be. She even played back his eye movements on screen and you can see why he has trouble by the way he reads the words. He looks at each word 3-4 times and goes back to a word even after he's said the word. It's hard to describe, but think of it as 2 steps back, 1 step forward. Luckily, he was prescribed glasses to help with his focusing issues and we pray that this will also help with his eye movements and word attack skills. We should get the glasses in about a week and then we'll have a follow up appt in 3-4 months to check his progress. Please pray that these glasses will help with strengthening his focus and helping his eyes work together.

On a more fun note, we ran by Bass Pro since we were just a couple of blocks away and then we went to eat at Lamberts {Home of the Throwed Rolls}. The first time we visited Lambert's, James called the rolls hot buns of steel. That still makes me laugh. Oh, how I love this kid!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Yesterday, our lil Razorbacks played again. We kicked tail and my little man got his first touchdown!! I was so excited for him! We've had a busy weekend with football games and birthday parties {2 of my own :)} and I'm ready to relax with my hubby this evening. Here are some pics from the game!

Holding his own!

The boys congratulating their teammate on his touchdown!

James has the ball! I didn't catch the actually touchdown on camera because I was screaming for him to run :)

There was some debate about the score actually being 42-6 but either way our boys did awesome!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Last weekend on our way out to Oklahoma, we passed several of these turbine farms. They look small in this picture, but do not rest easy...they are HUGE!! One blade is as long as a truck and trailer combined, perhaps longer. Gene and I discussed this and we've come to the same conclusion. These things freak us out! Perhaps, we're meant to be :) Not only are they huge, but the arms move so slowly. They remind me of something out of War of the Worlds. Have you seen these things at night? Each one has a huge red flashing light and it looks like some kind of extra-terrestrial pow-wow. At least one person agrees with me, or maybe he's just too nice to tell me I'm crazy!

Monday, September 19, 2011

It's been one crazy week around here. On Monday night {9/12/11}, Gene totaled his truck/trailer. I got the call around 10:30 pm. He called and said he had hit a bull and rolled his truck and that he had to go because DOT was there. The next 5 hours or so were filled with worry, exhaustion, tears, and a few phone calls. I didn't actually know a lot of the details until he made it home on Tuesday {where I took him straight to the ER}. The wreck happened close to Hardesty, OK. Gene was loaded with cows destined for Texas when he came up over a hump and a bull was in the road. Police reports show that Gene never left his lane, he didn't even swerve to try and miss the bull. The impact broke the front end and the steering wheel was spinning freely. The truck slid on it's side about 450-500 feet until it stopped over a culvert facing the opposite direction. Gene walked out. He said he'd always heard to get in the floor if you thought your truck was going over and thank goodness, that's what he did. There was a little hole inside the cab where there was no debris and that's where he was. We don't know what kept Gene in that truck, but he walked away unharmed. Sure, he has a few bumps and bruises, but he's alive and well. No broken bones, no internal injuries. His angel was really with him that night. This weekend, we went to clean out his truck {which by the way, everything of value had been stolen, even a handmade blanket I gave to Gene as a gift last Christmas}. But all of that is ok, because he's here with his family. I couldn't ask for anything more. It was hard to go back and see where the wreck happened and how bad the truck really was. Words don't describe the heartache I felt seeing everything we've worked for be destroyed in a few short seconds. But, we will start over. We will begin again, and we will come out ahead. I just praise God that I'm able to hold my hubby's hand and hear him say, "I Love You." For that, I will be forever grateful.

Where the truck/trailer slid into the ditch.

Marks from the trailer.

Culvery where the truck stopped. Gene stepped out onto these pipes.

This brought tears to my eyes. It's a picture of me and it was covered in dirt. I found no trace of the frame that this picture was in.

Blackmarks where the truck left the road.

We made it to the truck and trailer which was located in Guymon, OK.

Passenger side.

View from the front

Passenger side.

Passenger seat.

Inside the sleeper.

Gene was down between the seats

Driver side

There's just nothing left.

Another view of the inside

God Bless My Hubby!

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I took this picture as we were driving between Hardesty and Guymon, OK. The telephone poles reminded me of crosses and I thought this picture was just beautiful and so peaceful.

I'm glad this week is over. I'm ready to start a new week and a new beginning. We've had enough hardship the past 6-7 weeks, so I hope we can finally get caught up and ahead. I hope to get back into the swing of blogging this week and hopefully post some pics of little man's football games. He's doing so well and I'm so proud of him!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

It's that time of year again and James had his first pee wee football game of the season yesterday morning. We were so happy his aunt Gail and uncle Stanton came up to watch our little superstar play! Our lil Razorbacks won 14-6. I'm ready for fall: cooler weather, pumpkins, and football!

Here are some highlights from the game

I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of games and watching our growing boy!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Yesterday afternoon, there was a terrible wreck in our small town. It happened after school and involved 5 high school teenagers. 1 boy was DOA, 2 are in serious condition and 2 are in critical condition. We have a place in town called 'the dip.' It's almost a rite of passage to sail through going 40-50 mph or even more. It's been around forever and almost every person in town has a story about going through 'the dip.' Tragedies like these shake our small town to its core and it breaks all of our hearts to hear yet another sad story. Young lives lost over stupid choices we've all made.

The young man who died was a football player and will be missing his team play tomorrow night, but I'm sure he'll be smiling on his teammates from a much better place. Please take a moment to treasure the loved ones in your life. They can be taken from you in a split second. I pray that the families involved can find peace and the students of Huntsville will somehow be able to move forward. I pray that our small town recovers from such a loss and maybe our town will think about doing something to make that area of town a little bit safer for our generations to come.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

My all time favorite song is our song (mine and Gene's, not Taylor Swift LOL). It's called Lost in the Moment by Big and Rich. This duo is very near and dear to our hearts. We used to sit and listen to them and talk about our future. This song was pretty popular when it came on and I refused to listen to it all the time when it came on the radio because I didn't want to wear it out.

My new favorite song is a new song by Blake Shelton, "God Gave me You." I just love everything about it. He's one of my new fave artists right now.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

So I haven't posted my challenge since Wed!! It's been a crazy end of the week with football practice, my Pampered Chef party and a family BBQ. So here it is, 4 days crammed into 1 post!

Day 4: 7 Wants

Right now, I really want a homemade caramel brownie. I conveniently left the pan I made at my mother in law's :)

I really want things with James' mother to be resolved soon. All of this back and forth and drama is really hard on him no matter how hard we try to protect him. We are taking steps in the right direction and I hope it will all be over soon!

I want to get my PC party closed so I can order my free stuff!

I want a clean house and hoping my hubby reads this so maybe that will happen :)

I want to watch a chick flick instead of westerns and Nascar today, but oh well. I'm glad my hubby is home to annoy me with his kind of TV.

I want to know why people name their kids Moon Goddess or Apple or some other crazy name. I'm all for uniqueness but I hate crazy names or crazy spellings of normal names.

I want a girls night out!

Day 5: 6 Places
I haven't really traveled much, so my list will probably consist of the only places I have been :)

Branson, MO. We usually make a trip to Branson at least once a year. It's so close and family friendly. We plan to go to Silver Dollar City this year to show James the huge Christmas tree. I can't wait

Tulsa, OK. This is another favorite of mine and Gene's. It's perfect for a weekend away just the 2 of us. There are great restaurants and shopping. Our favorite place to eat is the Melting Pot!

Estes Park, CO. I went to CO for Spring Break of my sophomore year of college. I think it was Sophomore year anyway. I went with one of my best friends and it was so much fun! I miss road trips. Colorado was beautiful and I can't wait to go back one day.

St Louis, MO. We went to Saint Louie on our family vacation last year. I would love to go back sans kiddo. We stayed downtown and walked everywhere. It was a blast!

I want to take a trip to the beach since I have never been. I'm hoping next summer we can go to Gulf Shores.

I also want to go to the Northeast. I want to drive through Connecticut and Vermont in the fall and just soak it all up!

Day 6: 5 Foods

I love to eat! My all time favorite food is cereal. I eat a bowl everyday and I could eat it for every meal!

Mexican food. I love to get a chicken burrito from our local place here in town and the chips and salsa are to die for!

Sushi. My friend Jenny introduced me to sushi and I've loved it ever since. I even got my hubby to like it :)

Steak and baked potato. I love a really good steak. And it's even better if I don't have to cook it!

Sandwiches. I really love a good sandwich. I think a cheeseburger even fits into this category :)

Day 7: 4 Books

I just read The Help and all I can say is AMAZING!! I can't wait to see the movie.

The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. My friend Jenny gave me these books to read and I couldn't read them fast enough. The True Blood show on HBO is based on these books. I didn't know I was such a huge vampire fan :)

Nicholas Sparks. I love his books even though they are sad at times. I haven't read one in quite a while, but I think I'm due.

My favorite books as a child were the Little House on the Prairie series. I found the whole set on Ebay last year and I re-read them all in about a week. I know, huge dork LOL

Well there you have it, 4 days crammed into 1 post. I promise to be better tomorrow!